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Change of Space

Note that this is the first half of an update. The second half will be added on the weekend, when I have a spare moment! Besides, I've recieved too much quality artwork to cram it all into one update... Guess you're all just glad fanart's back and have gone submission-happy!

The above title refers both to an assignment for my painting class in which you dramatically change proportion or context of real things. I'm planning on doing an extremely zoomed out aerial view of my college's campus. It also refers to the fact that I'm still settling in to my new apartment and dealing with problems with internet connection, utilities, and so on, which is why this update is slightly late.

I've got a few important things to say:

I don't know what happened to the Fanart contest from 3 months ago. Please don't ask me. As soon as I figure out what is going on with it, I'll let you know.

If your fanart is posted in an update, I will send you an email letting you know that it has been posted. If not, you probably won't hear from me unless there's a specific rules/submission reason why it wasn't posted, in which case I will try to email you as soon as I recieve your submission to clarify things in time for the next update. Note that emailing you in this event doesn't mean your work will be posted.

We're all artists here. All of us have things to learn, and ways that we can improve (including me). Therefore, all art submitted may, at my discretion, be posted in the feedback section with suggestions and comments unless you specify otherwise. I won't be mean. I will never tell an artist that their work is bad, or that they should stop drawing. Any comments I have are meant in a constructive way, and should be interpreted as such. If your art is chosen for the feedback section, then I will email you stating such, including a copy of the text. If you have any questions about what I say in that email, please ask.

Now, this week's artwork, as well as the second fantastic installment of Felix's hair tutorial, for your artistic learning pleasure.

Comments: It was drawn using a mechanical pencil and photoshop, and it's just based off the final fantasy series in general, no particular game. Just what the white mage would look like if I designed the character, I suppose. THANK YOU GOOD NIGHT.

Comments: Arc II (and the rest of the Arc series) was an incredibly good game, and
well worth all the money I paid for it. So, it was inevitable that I make
some sort of Arc fanart. Here are Elc and Lieza, two of the main characters
from Arc II. I don't have much else to say, except that I need more practice
with outdoor scenery. -_-

Comments: Just a child on the inside, crying out to the world, searching constantly for an identity that he refuses accept. Test Subject B, Code C, Cloud Strife lived in a distorted seclusion within his mind since that tragic night. Final Fantasy 7 begins as a simple story and then expands into an intricate plot that goes in depth to a subconscious and spiritual level, unraveling the mind of the main character, and taking you into a world of suffering and confusion, bound to a past that canít be forgotten.

Comments: The second in the series of Final Fantasy girls in swimsuits (the first being the White Mage...) this was pretty easy to do. I had the hardest time, however, finding a decent picture of the rose on her back and I'm not quite sure if she has a last name.

Tutorials

More on SD Character DrawingDrawing Hair (Part 3)

Well, this is the last part on drawing hair. At this point, you should know about the characteristics of hair and how to draw nice hair.

At this point, if can draw hair very well, you should be proud of yourself. If you still feel that you need more practice, take more time to observe (photographs, or artworks) and practice, and I'm sure you too will have fun drawing great characters.

In this tutorial, you'll learn one important point in drawing hair: motions and forces. For some of you, you might feel that the topic that I'm going to cover was too advanced. But never mind, just take this tutorial as a common sense lesson, or save this page for future reference. Remember, you don't have to rush over things. These small steps in practicing is going to bring you to a higher level.

Now, shall we begin?

Four types of forces

Everyone knows that hair is not totally solid, and outside forces is able to make hair move and sway. And because of this, hair is certainly a pain to draw when it comes to drawing lively, moving characters (and that's what makes it interesting!)

But don't panic! Once you identify these forces and you know how to apply it, drawing "moving" hair is very easy. The only thing you need to know is to keep the smooth flow. To do that, you need to know the forces and its effects to the flow!

Gravity
Simple as that, this is the first flow you need to know. Hair has some weight, so hair will be "pulled down" by gravity.

But be careful though, there are some exceptions. Especially when you are dealing with pointy hair (refer Hair: Part II), and when your character is in somewhere where gravity doesn't has much effect (space, underwater etc.). And another exception is that when the hair is fixed (with hair cream or natural reasons), and that force that makes the hair "stick" is much greater than gravity. [See image]

Natural forces (Wind, water etc.)
Now, let's add another force into the scene and this makes it TWO forces. Now, the rule is almost the same (hair moves towards the force of motion), but with some additional physics in there. You can see, when two forces was applied, a combined force will determine the motion (see the red arrow). And the combined forces will be more inclined to the greater force. Sounds complicated? look at the image to have a better visualization of the situation.

Character motion
Now, one difficulty in drawing action scenes is making your art natural. And one factor is to know the connection between motion and flows of air. [I use stick figures to avoid distractions caused by details]

As you can see, now we have three forces to consider: Gravity, natural, and motion forces. And one rule you must keep in mind is that The flow of air always the opposite to the flow of motion. Let's see example 1, you can see that when the character runs forward, the flow of air moves towards the back.

But don't confuse between the flow of air and wind. These two can be individual forces that can be applied. (as in example 3) Do some observation yourself and you will get the point.

Point of Force (POF)
This one is really important if you wanted to draw tied-up hair (braids, ponytails, whatever). This force is very important when you want to add detail (strands of hair) to your hair.

Point of Force (POF) is the point where force is applied, and because of this, hair will gather and move towards this point.

Let's take the ponytail as an example. You can see that the hairband (in red) acts as a POF, and hair was "pulled" towards that point. And those that were not affected by the POF will remain at its orginal state (see the hair near the neck).

So when you draw hair that is tied up, make sure you identify the POF.

Conclusions

Now, with all these knowledge combined, I'm sure that you're able to draw hair like a pro. With practice, you'll soon find out that hair wasn't that hard to draw afterall. If you feel that all these information is too much for you, don't worry. Take your time, keep on practicing and observe, I'm sure you'll be able to get the hang of it.

Next week, I'll move on to something that is much simpler and fun: Coloring art with GIMP!

Till then, keep on practicing and send in your questions or suggestions to the usual address (seh_hui@yahoo.com).

About the AuthorFelix Leong, a computer science college student, yet taking drawing as a serious hobby. Artwork and tutorial contributor for RPGamer Fanart and a prizewinner in some local art competition.